Different infrastructure for a different boundary.
Actae does not replace your agent framework, and it is not simply ‘better than Temporal.’ It is a narrower fit for teams that want framework-neutral durability and stateful execution lineage.
| Capability | Actae | Observability tools | Workflow engines | Postgres + queues |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns application control flow? | Application/framework | Observational only | Workflow runtime executes the durable workflow definition | Application |
| What does the infrastructure persist? | Explicit execution events, state boundaries, operation records, and lineage | Traces | Workflow history used to reconstruct and drive execution | Events you design |
| Does adoption require a workflow execution model? | No | No | Yes — durable application control flow is expressed through the workflow model | No |
| Agent-state fork, lineage, and diff | First-class product primitives | Trace comparison | Can be implemented | You build it |
| Replay history into live stream | One abstraction | Trace ingestion | Workflow history | You build it |
| Best fit | Long-running, tool-using agents | LLM quality and observability | Broad business workflows | Teams wanting full control |
Choose Actae when
Runs are long or costly, side effects matter, framework neutrality matters, and branching real inherited state is valuable.
Choose something else when
You only need traces, your chatbot runs for seconds, or a general workflow engine already owns the entire application lifecycle.